Agricultural News

During the month of April, the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and Oklahoma Farm Report is spotlighting the twenty District Stars of Oklahoma FFA that are among the highest achievers in the organization. The stars come from the five districts in four categories- Star in Ag Placement, Star in Agriscience, Star in Agribusiness and Star in Production Agriculture. Last week, we spotlighted the five district stars in Ag Placement- this week we move on to the Agriscience Stars for 2017.

Today, we highlight Anna Eubanks of the Harrah FFA Chapter, representing the Central District as its Star in Agriscience. As president of her chapter, involved in showing cattle and public speaking, Eubanks has also developed an interest in Agriscience during her FFA career, which led her to conduct two tests related to maintaining and extending the shelf-life of eggs.

“My first experiment, I tested the difference between my own home-grown eggs and store-bought eggs,” she described. “I tested the difference between them on the counter and in the refrigerator, viewing the air cells and how long it took them to get rotten and things like that.”

After four weeks of close observation, Eubanks concluded that refrigeration is the best way to keep eggs fresh longer, but also discovered that her home-grown eggs performed better than store-bought ones. From this realization arose more questions, and from that stemmed her second experiment; this time using only store-bought eggs, but with two groups. One control group, the other coated with a layer of mineral oil.

“Mineral oil acts as a synthetic bloom around the egg,” she explained. “It keeps in the gasses and keeps out bacteria. The home-grown eggs are made with a natural bloom around them. Store-bought eggs actually have the bloom washed off, so that’s why it’s important to recognize that the natural bloom and the synthetic bloom do so much better in our environment.”

Eubanks’ curious mind lays a good foundation for a student with aspirations to become an agricultural educator herself, with plans to pursue that vocation after graduation by attending Oklahoma State University.

You can hear her entire conversation with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays, by clicking or tapping on the LISTEN BAR below.

Our salute of the 2017 District Stars of the Oklahoma FFA is brought to you by American Farmers & Ranchers, proud to support Oklahoma’s youth. Visit the AFR website by clicking or tapping here to learn more on how AFR supports the young people of Oklahoma, and how AFR can provide you with quality insurance for your home, auto, farm, and life.

You can hear her entire conversation with Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays below